Patton (1970)

The World War II phase of the career of the controversial American general, George S. Patton.

Director:

Franklin J. Schaffner

Writers:

Francis Ford Coppola (screen story and screenplay), Edmund H. North (screen story and screenplay)

Stars:

George C. Scott, Karl Malden, Stephen Young

Won 7 Oscars. Another 16 wins & 8 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
George C. Scott	...	General George S. Patton Jr.
Karl Malden	...	General Omar N. Bradley
Stephen Young	...	Captain Chester B. Hansen
Michael Strong	...	Brigadier General Hobart Carver
Carey Loftin	...	General Bradley's Driver (as Cary Loftin)
Albert Dumortier	...	Moroccan Minister
Frank Latimore	...	Lieutenant Colonel Henry Davenport
Morgan Paull	...	Captain Richard N. Jenson
Karl Michael Vogler	...	Field Marshal Erwin Rommel
Bill Hickman	...	General Patton's Driver
Pat Zurica	...	First Lieutenant Alexander Stiller (as Patrick J. Zurica)
James Edwards	...	Sergeant William George Meeks
Lawrence Dobkin	...	Colonel Gaston Bell
David Bauer	...	Lieutenant Gen. Harry Buford
John Barrie	...	Air Vice-Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham

Storyline

"Patton" tells the tale of General George S. Patton, famous tank commander of World War II. The film begins with Patton's career in North Africa and progresses through the invasion of Europe and the fall of the Third Reich. Side plots also speak of Patton's numerous faults such his temper and tendency toward insubordination, faults that would prevent him from becoming the lead American general in the Normandy Invasion as well as to his being relieved as Occupation Commander of Germany.

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Plot Keywords:

panzer | general | allies | destiny | tank | 

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Taglines:

Direct from its sensational reserved seat engagement.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | War

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Certificate:

GP

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English German French Russian Arabic Italian

Release Date:

2 April 1970 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Salute to a Rebel

Filming Locations:

Royal Palace of Madrid, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

Box Office

Budget:

$12,000,000 (estimated)

Gross USA:

$61,700,000

Company Credits

Production Co:

Twentieth Century Fox

Technical Specs

Runtime:

172 min

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) (Westrex Recording System) Mono (35 mm prints) DTS 70 mm (70 mm re-release)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.20 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

George C. Scott felt he hadn't really captured the full character of George S. Patton. He would apologize to director Franklin J. Schaffner on the set for not fully realizing the complexity of the man.

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Goofs

At Messina, where the pipe band leads the British parade, the pipers are clearly not playing. Most of them do not move their fingers at all, and those that do (on the left of the screen) do not do so in accordance to the tune (Scotland the Brave) on the sound-track.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Patton: Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country.

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Crazy Credits

One of the very, very few Twentieth Century-Fox films in which that company's logo is not shown at all, beginning or end. The film simply begins with the opening speech, and the opening Fox logo is replaced with an in-credit text-only notice after the speech. However, recent television showings have added the logo (not on DVD prints), and the addition is obviously spliced in from another piece of film.

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Alternate Versions

The IMDb credits reflect those in a version of the film once broadcast by Cinemax and listed in the AFI Catalogue. Another version in letterbox format (once broadcast by AMC) omit and change some of the credits. Omitted are: credits for Alex Weldon, Joe Canutt and Pacific Title. Changed credits are all in the Sound Department, where Don J. Bassman, 'Theodore Soderberg', Murray Spivack and Douglas O. Williams are credited simply for 'sound." Whether this was a re-released version is uncertain.

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Connections

Referenced in Silver Spoons: Rick's Learning Problem (1986)

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Soundtracks

The Washington Post
(1889) (uncredited)
Music by John Philip Sousa
Played as the 7th Army parades through Palermo and Patton meets the Cardinal.

User Reviews

A film about the man not the war

Oliver Stone has said this film glorifies war, i disagree, what it does is show a man {Patton} who gloried in war, the war is shown through his perspective,and to Patton war is glorious and he revels in it.The performance of George c scott as Patton is brilliant, it shows a complex and demanding character riddled with contradictions ,who believes he was born to be a leader of men,the supporting cast is very good particularly karl Malden who plays general Bradley a calm experienced soldier with no dreams of glory, the perfect foil to the maverick Patton, the combat scenes are well shot and are never more than is necessary to support the narrative,the film rises above being very good to excellence due to George c Scotts intuitive grasp of the character.